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By Franklin Graham
Just
a few weeks ago, the world’s attention was focused on Copenhagen, the capital
of the little Scandinavian country of Denmark.
I’ve been to Copenhagen on several occasions over the
years. Like most of Europe, Denmark is extremely secular, has a socialistic
form of government, and is plagued by high drug use and sexual promiscuity.
President Obama and other world leaders came to Copenhagen
for a United Nations climate summit, where the topic of global warming took
center stage.
I
think all of us would certainly agree that steps can be taken to preserve the
fragile environment we live in.
What is happening, however, in gatherings like this is
frightening to me. A legitimate concern for the stewardship of our resources
has been replaced by a radical, godless worldview that elevates the creation to
idolatrous status.
This is how the Apostle Paul put it in his letter to the
Romans:
“For since the creation of the world
God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been
clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without
excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave
thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were
darkened. … [They] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to
look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
“Therefore God gave them over in the
sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their
bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator” (Romans
1:20–25, NIV).
Make no mistake – these words describe what is happening
today in countries and cultures around the world.
People
who have rejected God – and the idea that man is made in His image – are
worshiping and serving creation, rather than the Creator.
They
have no concern for the souls of men, and “mother earth” is their false and
idolatrous god. Moral depravity is the end result.
I feel that our responsibility is greater than ever to
preach the saving Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just a few verses earlier in Romans, Paul wrote that he
was not “ashamed of the gospel, because
it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
Jesus,
through whom “[God] made the universe”
(Hebrews 1:2), died to redeem men, not animals or plants.
He
spilled His blood to rescue sinners from the eternal fires of Hell and
reconcile them to Himself.
I believe that a time is fast approaching – I think it will
be in my lifetime – when the preaching of the Gospel is referred to as hate
speech.
The
public proclamation of biblical injunctions against homosexuality, abortion,
and other moral issues will be banned by our politically correct cultures.
Preachers
of the Gospel could be imprisoned and jailed for adhering to the Bible. It is
already happening in some countries.
I am not afraid or ashamed of the Gospel.
We
will proclaim the Gospel of Christ’s sacrificial death for sin and His
triumphant resurrection as long as we have breath.
God created us for His glory, and the Bible says that even
this sin-stained planet will one day be “liberated
from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children
of God” (Romans 8:21).
Plans
for the New Year
As we begin this New Year, we will start with an
evangelistic Crusade in India, where we will be going to one of its largest
cities to “preach Christ crucified” (1 Corinthians 1:23).
India
is home to more than a billion people and has millions of false deities,
including many in the likeness of what Paul described to the Romans.
In 2005 and 2006, over 5 million souls were delivered from
eternal death and darkness through the power of the Gospel at work through My
Hope – our nationwide evangelistic television outreach where Christians open
their homes and invite friends and neighbors to hear my father and me preach.
Later this year, we’ll be going to Brazil, the largest
country in South America, for a Crusade. There has been tremendous revival in
this strategic nation, and the Holy Spirit worked through our My Hope telecasts
15 months ago to save hundreds of thousands of people.
We’ll also be going to the country of Latvia, just a few
hundred miles across the Baltic Sea from Copenhagen. Our Crusade there will be the
first nationwide evangelistic event ever in this former communist country.
Our exciting evangelistic youth program, Dare to Be a
Daniel, continues to grow. We’ve already trained 14,000 young people to boldly
share their faith in their schools and communities, and our goal is to have
35,000 teenagers trained by the end of 2010.
As
our culture continues its headlong fall into a moral abyss, we need bold young
men and women to stand strong for Jesus.
This April, my father’s book Storm Warnings will be re-released
with completely updated and revised material. It speaks directly to the signs
and warnings that characterize the end times – days that I believe are
dangerously near.
Thank
you for your prayers and financial support. We work for God’s glory in all we
do, and your help is much needed and much appreciated.
My grandfather Nelson Bell’s favorite verse was Proverbs
3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your
heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.”
This
is my prayer as we undertake the Lord’s work this coming year, and my prayer
for you as well.
May God bless you and your loved ones,
Franklin Graham
President
Franklin Graham
President
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